More cases have been collected by state health department since then. .
Regardless of the harmful side effects of ephedrine, the use of the herb has increased dramatically in the United States. Over 60 million Americans spent 3.24 billion dollars on dietary supplements containing ephedrine for reasons such as migraines, hypertension, energy enhancers, weight loss, and sexual stamina. An estimated 15 million adults are at risk for potential herb-drug interactions. (Andrews pg. 2 of 4) I believe the reason consumers still purchase supplements containing ephedrine is simply because of deception by the manufacturer. Consumers are deceived because of industries selecting catchy brand names or because they use phrases such as "fat burner" or "detoxifies" and "rated #1 for weight loss". Manufacturers also use creative borderline language that still abides by the law, but is generally confusing and deceptive. For example, one manufacturer claims its product "promotes weight loss without exercise" and then later states "use while getting sufficient exercise and proper diet" in small print. This type of misleading claim is apparently permissible under the new laws and mislead consumers into believing these products are safe, when many clearly can have serious side effects. (The Voice page 3 of 5). .
People are unaware that suppliers of ephedrine are virtually free to make health claims about the substances that have no scientific basis. People are also unaware of the potentially deadly side effects of these products. What about the FDA? Should not it be monitoring the safety of these substances? Dietary supplements are routinely marketed without undergoing a safety review by the FDA. The FDA did propose to reduce risks associated with dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids by limiting the amount of ephedrine in products. They proposed to have companies require labels and marketing measures that give adequate warnings about the drug to consumers.